The Top Ten

Lady Gaga’s new song (and her Grammy performance) have gotten a lot of attention this week, but as I checked out the top 10 singles on iTunes this morning, I was reminded that “Born This Way” isn’t the only hot song misrepresenting reality to students.The lyrics in mainstream music are often polar opposite to God’s truth. I’ll be the first to say there’s some AMAZING music being made today across a variety of genres. Songwriters and musicians are some of the most creative, talented, thoughtful people I know. My playlist has just as many “mainstream” artists in it as it does “Christian” ones.But as the body of Christ, and specifically as youth leaders, it almost feels like we’ve given up trying to introduce good Christian music to  students. Think about it … the more Christian music we get on their iPod, the higher the chances are that they will be encouraged and reminded of His truth when they hit “shuffle.”So what happened? Have we just thrown our hands up and given in? Do we feel like the tidal wave of anti-Truth mainstream music is too big to fight? Do we think it’s not that important anymore? Are we afraid that if we suggest to students that their music isn’t edifying, we’ll have to delete the Mumford and Sons album we just downloaded?I honestly don’t know.I do know this: students spend 7.5 hours every day absorbing the messages in music and media. Scroll back up and look at that “Top 10 Singles” list for a minute (and while you’re at it, explain to me how is it that a song titled “S&M” isn’t labeled “explicit”?)An entire generation of students is coming of age with Lady Gaga. Her views are sought, trumpeted and praised on issues political, social and spiritual. Walt Mueller’s post on Lady Gaga as the voice of this generation should frighten you. It should also make you fighting mad.We DON’T have to sit by and quietly let Lady Gaga co-opt our students. We DO have a chance to introduce great sounding music with lyrics that point to Truth. Jonathan McKee and David R. Smith have another great post that should get you started thinking about how to address “Born This Way” with your students.As youth leaders, we can make a differenceI can’t help but think about the lyrics of another mainstream song from my generation, and wonder why we don’t make this our rallying cry:We’re Not Gonna Take ItNo, We Ain’t Gonna Take ItOh We’re Not Gonna Take It Anymore